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Cotswolds

The Cotswolds [1] refers to a region of gentle hill country in south central England, the main range reaching 300 m (1000 ft) in altitude at its highest. The Cotswolds lie across the boundaries of several traditional English counties: Gloucestershire enjoys by far the largest portion of the region; the county shares this honour significantly with Oxfordshire and south Warwickshire, and to a lesser extent with Wiltshire, Somerset and Worcestershire.

Officially designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1966, in recognition of their unique appeal and the beauty of its predominantly rural landscapes, the Cotswolds are known worldwide for their stone-built villages, historical towns, and stately homes and gardens. Many consider the Cotswolds as representative of the archetypal English landscape, within easy striking distance of London and several other English urban centres.

Culture and History

Geography

The Cotswolds run generally south-west to north-east, the northern and western edges marked by steep escarpments down to the valleys of the rivers Severn and Avon and the city of Gloucester, the eastern boundary by the city of Oxford (the university "city of dreaming spires"), the west by Stroud, and the south by the middle reaches of the Thames Valley and towns such as Cirencester, Lechlade and Fairford. Key physical features of the area, including the characteristic uplift of the 'Cotswold Edge' can be clearly seen as far south as Bath.

The Cotswolds characterised by attractive small towns and villages built of the underlying rock, known as "Cotswold Stone" (actually, a yellow oolitic limestone).

History

During the Middle Ages, the Cotswolds became prosperous from the wool trade with the Continent. Much of this wealth was directed towards the building of churches, the area still preserving a large number of large, handsome Cotswold Stone "wool churches". The area remains affluent and has attracted wealthy Londoners and others who own second homes in the area or have chosen to retire to the Cotswolds.

Typical Cotswold towns are Broadway, Burford, Chipping Norton, Cirencester, Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold. The Cotswold town of Chipping Campden is notable for being the home of the Arts and Crafts movement, founded by William Morris at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. William Morris lived, occasionally, in Broadway Tower a folly now in country park.

Regions

Cities and Towns

Other destinations

Villages

  • Adlestrop - the village associated with the evocative Edward Thomas poem
  • Broadway - country retreat of Victorian designer William Morris
  • Chedworth - a small village seven miles north of Cirencester
  • Minchinhampton - small village, between Stroud and Cirencester. Old streets and a few nice shops

Historical Houses

The Cotswolds are home to a number of important historical houses, often set in their own estates and therefore not part of any particular town or village.

The local tourist board [2]provides information on important houses open to the public, which include Snowshill Manor, Chavanage, William Morris's house at Kelmscott, Sudeley Castle and Berkeley Castle. Some houses are closed but provide the setting for nationally important gardens such as Hidcote Manor, Painswick Rococo or Abbey House Gardens. Gardens also described at [3]

Chastleton House [4] - maintained by the National Trust since 1991, when it was acquired from the last representative of the family who had owned the house since it was first built. Chastleton House is one of England’s finest and most complete Jacobean houses, filled not only with a mixture of rare and everyday objects, furniture and textiles collected since its completion in 1612, but also with the atmosphere of 400 years of continuous occupation by one family. The gardens have a typical Elizabethan and Jacobean layout with a ring of fascinating topiary at their heart and it was here in 1865 that the rules of modern croquet were codified. Since acquiring the property, the Trust has concentrated on conserving it rather than restoring it to a pristine state.

Cotswolds city tours

The Cotswolds [5] attracts people with a visual appeal derived from a long history and the charm of hundreds of honey colour stone villages spread over an area approximately 100m (160km) north to south and 50 miles east to west.

Whilst lacking a single large attraction or theme park, the Cotswolds is a wealthy area that nevertheless retains something of the appeal of a working environment. For visitors, the area is particularly well known for historic gardens, pubs and inns, farm and outdoor attractions and retail - book and antique shops especially. There is also a thriving arts and crafts scene, drawing on a legacy that includes William Morris but also extends to new artists at work in hotspots such as the Stroud Valleys.

The Cotswolds also has a strong food culture with frequent Farmers' Markets, local organic producers and individual businesses such as bakeries and orchard drink producers. The area has a long history of hospitality since being adopted by Londoners with newly available reliable motor cars a hundred years ago and there remains a concentration of high quality hotels and B&Bs in the area.

Cotswold Water Park, [6]. Great Britain's largest water park consists of 133 lakes which were formed by filling old gravel quarries. It is located about five miles south of Cirencester and offers many water sports and activities.

  • Walk some or all of the Cotswold Way. Beautiful views over the Cotswold edge the entire way.
  • Watersports (Dragon boat racing!!) at the Cotswold Water Park.
  • Enjoy a pint at one of the area's excellent pubs!

Cotswolds attractions and sightseeing

  • Visit gardens, historic houses and farm attractions. There is a listing at the local tourist board website [7].
  • The weekly farmers market in Stroud
  • Cotswold wildlife park [8]

Talk

Although this is central England, you may find locals speak with a heavy Gloucestershire accent although equally the area has a high

Destinations in Cotswolds:

Bourton-on-the-Water / Broadway (England) / Burford / Cirencester / Fairford / Five Valleys / Minchinhampton / Nailsworth / Stroud /

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This page was last edited at 16:20, on 2 December 2008 by Jim Nicholson. Based on work by Andrew Oakley, Stacy Hall, Evan Prodromou, Ryan Holliday, David, Carson Maynard, Ravikiran Rao and Rob Payne, Wikitravel user(s) Jonboy and WindHorse, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.

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